A driver stood no chance of avoiding a known shoplifter who was killed after he ran from a supermarket into the path of his car.

Peter Gray, 31, was seen sprinting from Asda at Kingswood Retail Park while clutching a carrier bag full of clothing, before being hit by a dark blue Ford S-MAX on the pedestrian crossing in John Newton Way.

The Bransholme father-of-one - described by his family as "good-hearted" - died from head injuries at Hull Royal Infirmary, six days after the collision, which happened at around 5.30pm on March 2 this year.

Peter Gray was hit by a car outside Asda Kingswood

After the inquest at Hull Coroner's Court, Mr Gray's mother, Jenny Reid, who stayed by his bedside until the end, paid tribute to her son.

She said: "Peter would do anything for anyone. He was a good-hearted lad. He always looked after me. I was there when he died. I never left him."

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Traffic lights were on green for traffic when Mr Gray ran onto the crossing, the driver and two other witnesses told the hearing.

PC Timothy Clark, a Humberside Police collision investigation with 22 years' experience, determined the driver, if he had seen Mr Gray, would have had as little as 1.6 seconds to react. He added that a reasonable reaction time would have been two seconds.

Peter Gray died in hospital from fatal head injuries

Asked by the coroner if he believed the driver could have taken evasive action, PC Clark replied: "The physical evidence suggests that there was nothing (the driver) could have done to avoid the collision.

"He would have been in the process of reacting when the collision happened."

An elderly woman described seeing Mr Gray running across the car park as she loaded shopping into her car but did not witness the collision.

"I heard a noise that sounded like footsteps from someone running. I turned and this figure flashed by me. It was a male. He was absolutely tramping. My thoughts were someone is chasing him."